Michael Swickard's new novel about New Mexico

From the Santa Fe New Mexican.com - The $90,000-a-year Public Regulation Commission seat being vacated by Jerome Block Jr. has attracted 87 applicants. The list includes lawyers, engineers, cops, state employees, business people, politicians and would-be politicians of every stripe — and even one New Mexican columnist. Gov. Susana Martinez will choose a successor for Block, who agreed to resign last week in a plea bargain for several felony counts. Block, who represents the northern commission district including Santa Fe, has until Oct. 13 to step down. The New Mexican previously reported Block's deadline was Friday. Faced with going through 87 résumés, Martinez has not committed to a deadline for selecting a new commissioner. "We are not operating on a particular timetable," Martinez spokesman Scott Darnell said Wednesday. He said the governor will "move quickly, but thoroughly, through a review of the applications, and finalists will be selected to receive interviews." Read more

Probably unknown and unnoticed by most Americans was a Federal requirement that all educational institutions receiving Federal funding hold educational programs concerning the United States Constitution. By law this is supposed to occur on September 17th each year or on the last school day prior to that date. Did this occur in any of your neighborhood schools or the colleges in your area? How many articles did you see in press or on the local or national news media about Constitution Day? Did any of the students you know mention any special activities that helped them understand the history, significance and provisions of our Constitution? Probably not. We are engaged in a conflict to preserve our constitution and our form of government while at the same time our national government is moving toward accepting global governance. Evidence of this includes President Obama’s press release on March 19, 2011 where he reaffirmed he is fully committed to establishing an international world order. We are teaching our children and the current generation to become global citizens rather than citizens of the United States. Ultimately, our national sovereignty is at stake.

Did the students learn that government is empowered only by the consent of the governed and that Article One of the Constitution was written to place limitations on the federal government? Recently, President Obama told a group in Washington that when it comes to the issues (important to him), “I’d like to work my way around Congress.” Our Constitution was created to prevent dictatorial decisions and edicts of a monarch. President Obama, despite numerous executive orders to circumvent the actions of Congress is not our King with unlimited powers.

Daily we see articles about government officials circumventing the Constitution. The Mayor of Ruidoso, who apparently thinks he is King, recently issued his own version of an Executive Order to ban citizens from carrying weapons on City owned property. While he may claim the City Council members feel threatened, our Second Amendment Constitutional rights prevail. Our Constitution was designed to restrain the government and protect us from the edicts of elected officials who often try to restrict or impede the rights it guarantees to the people. Did the programs at our schools even mention the Second Amendment? It would have been extremely unlikely if they had. Read rest of column here: News New Mexico